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Tonight’s Ariodante concert performance at the Barbican’s sold out Hall made me wonder of the consequences on booking great singers and then letting them down with a really sloppy orchestra.

We had Joyce Didonato, Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux on the podium and somehow feel cheated that such amazing singers were short-changed and did not get the backing they deserved. Il Complesso Barocco should be ashamed for give us badly tuned, bland music making while observing dubious tempi in quite a few passages. The great singing thankfully soared despite the music…a statement I never thought I’d make for any opera by Handel.

Will elaborate in a further post but for now I wanted to get out there my frustration about a missed opportunity for an amazing evening that somehow did not materialise.